Similar Songs
Credits
PERFORMING ARTISTS
Lou Reed
Vocals
John Cale
Keyboards
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Lou Reed
Songwriter
John Cale
Songwriter
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Lou Reed
Producer
John Cale
Producer
Michael Leonard Rathke
Mixing Engineer
Jeremy Darby
Mixing Engineer
Lyrics
When you're growing up in a smalltown
When you're growing up in a smalltown
When you're growing up in a smalltown
You say, "No one famous ever came from here"
When you're growing up in a smalltown
And you're having a nervous breakdown
And you think that you'll never escape it
Yourself or the place that you live
Where did Picasso come from?
There's no Michelangelo coming from Pittsburgh
If art is the tip of the iceberg
I'm the part sinking below
When you're growing up in a smalltown
Bad skin, bad eyes, gay and fatty
People look at you funny
When you're in a smalltown
My father worked in construction
It's not something for which I am suited
Oh, what is something for which you are suited?
Getting out of here
I hate being odd in a smalltown
If they stare, let them stare in New York City
At this pink-eyed painting albino
How far can my fantasy go?
I'm no Dali coming from Pittsburgh
No adorable lisping Capote, my hero
Oh, do you think I could meet him?
I'd camp out at his front door
There's only one good thing about a smalltown
There's only one good use for a smalltown
There's only one good thing about a smalltown
You know that you wanna get out
When you're growing up in a smalltown
You know that you'll grow down in a smalltown
There's only one good use for a smalltown
You hate it and you know you'll have to leave
Written by: John Cale, Lou Reed